Zimbabwe’s first international and longest-serving Arbiter Simbarashe Murimi will make history when he officiates at the prestigious 44th Olympiad in Chennai, India, from July 28 to August 10.
The latest appointment for the 45-year-old comes at a time when local chess is on the rebound by attracting corporate such as Minerva, who bankrolled the last couple editions of the Zimbabwe Open, which are part of the 10-year partnership between the sponsors and the Zimbabwe Chess Federation.
Murimi, a former chess player and administrator, is a FIDE certified arbiter.
His journey as an arbiter has taken him to international events like the African Individuals, which was held in Namibia in 2007, and Libya in 2009. He has been the Chief Arbiter of the Botswana Open from 2003 to 2017.
He got his first taste of officiating at the 2008 Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, where he was part of the arbitration panel.
Murimi, who is also a former Director of Arbiters with the Zimbabwe Chess board, recently officiated at the Moja chess extravaganza in Kimberly with the Grandmaster section featuring former world championship challenger GM Nigel Short
It was held from the 18th to the 27th March in Kimberly Northern Cape, SA.
Officiating at this year’s 44th Olympiad will in some way make up for Murimi’s missed opportunity to arbitrate the Russia Olympiad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to EnterSportNews, Murimi could not hide his joy after being selected as an Olympiad Arbiter in Chennai, India.
“I am delighted to have been appointed to officiate at the Chess Olympiad again,” said Murimi.
“I don’t take this opportunity lightly as it is great at a personal level and an opportunity to remind the world that we have good chess players and can also raise our national flag as Arbiters.”
He is the only Zimbabwean to have the title of an International Arbiter, which is an outstanding achievement. Hopefully, many Zimbabweans will follow in his footsteps and become International Certified Arbiters.